The Best Cheap Cell Phone Plans You've Never Heard Of

There are a lot of smartphone options beyond the big four carriers in the US. If you're looking to save money, these lesser-known plans might be the ticket.

Plans That Pay

While most Americans are signed up with one of the major carrier brands—AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, or Verizon Wireless—there are many more choices available to US cell phone customers looking for a bargain. Known as MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators), these low-cost carriers piggyback on the four major networks and can deliver lower prices, especially for individual users who aren't looking to be part of a family plan.

We have been updating this story for years now. The most recent update came in October 2018.

All the major carriers have low-cost spinoffs, and their deals are worth checking first. AT&T runs Cricket Wireless. Sprint has Boost and Virgin. T-Mobile owns GoSmart and MetroPCS. Verizon has Visible. If you're looking for a wide range of stores and solid customer service, these brands have excellent prices and should be your first shopping stops. We'll mention them below when appropriate.

For the other brands, which typically don't have stores, pay attention to their reputation for customer service and to their enabling networks. Some MVNOs give you an option to choose between different enabling networks, and some are tied to only one. One company, Google Fi, combines Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular on one card, but for the rest, you have to choose which network you want when you buy your SIM card.

Depending on your needs, even one of the big four networks could have a plan that works for you. For the best carrier service where you live, check out our results for the Fastest Mobile Networks.

How Much Do You Want to Spend?

We're ordering our picks by how much you want to spend per month, to give you the best value at every price level. We also get a lot of comments from people who wonder why their phone service isn't listed, so at the bottom we put the plans we didn't choose, and why they didn't make the cut. You may disagree! If you do, make sure to explain why in the comments.

Which Phones Work With These Networks?

Many of these smaller carriers don't sell their own phones, or if they do, they sell an oddball selection. Your best bet, almost always, is to buy a new unlocked phone, or to buy a used phone that's compatible with the right network. They may also work with your old device from your previous carrier.

Most unlocked phones are compatible with the AT&T and T-Mobile, and with any carrier that uses their networks. If you're looking for an unlocked phone that works on all four major US systems, look at any iPhone that's of the 6s or later varieties, the Samsung Galaxy S7 or higher, the Google Pixel line, or the Moto E4, G4, or G5. Or take a look at our list of The Best Unlocked Phones.

What About Customer Service?

In general, when you turn to these less-prominent carriers, you're not going to get the sort of customer service you get from the Big Four. Yes, I can hear you laughing. But the main issue is that if something goes wrong with your SIM, you won't have a physical store to go and get help at—you'll be stuck dealing with scripted employees at outsourced call centers, and often they know less than a tech-savvy consumer does. I remember dealing with a reader who had to throw away a $60 MVNO SIM because of activation problems.

If that worries you, there are two lesser-known carriers that consistently get strong ratings for customer service: Consumer Cellular and Republic Wireless. You can also turn to the wholly owned brands of the big carriers, which have their own store networks: AT&T's Cricket, T-Mobile's MetroPCS, and Sprint's Boost and Virgin.

Also, read the comments. This story has been around for a long while, and I keep the comments intact because they're a great chronicle of the trouble people have signing up for some of these services.

I Want to Spend $10 or Less Per Month

Yes, it's possible to get quality cell phone service in the US for $10 or less.

Let's start at the bottom. SpeedTalk, which uses the T-Mobile network, has a $5 per month plan with 100 minutes, 100 texts, and 100MB of data. That's usable for, say, an emergency glove compartment phone, or a phone for a small child who only calls when the bus is late. It also has a $99 per year ($8.25 per month) plan with 500 minutes, 500MB, and unlimited texts per month. I'm a little nervous about SpeedTalk because it has a very bad website full of errors, but I haven't heard any actual complaints about the company.

A bunch of MVNOs are doing $10 monthly plans now. The two I'd like to call out this time are Unreal Mobile and Red Pocket. Unreal Mobile is run by FreedomPop and offers a $10 plan with unlimited calling and texting with 1GB of data on the Sprint or AT&T networks. That's a terrific deal.

Red Pocket will give you 500 talk minutes, 500 texts, and 500 MB of data on any of the four nationwide networks for $10 with its Essentials plan. That's especially good for people who need the Verizon network, and it's a better deal than competitors Puppy Wireless, FreeUP Mobile, or The People's Operator.

With those options, we can do away with Scratch Wireless (which has a very poor selection of phones) and TracFone (which can be very cheap if you play a complicated game of minute-doubled reload cards). US Mobile no longer offers the Simple Plan that we recommended previously.

I Want to Spend $10-$20 Per Month

Consumer Cellular gets great reviews from our readers for being an easy-to-use, senior-focused system with excellent customer service. It runs on the AT&T network. Its lowest-cost, sweet-spot plan has 250 minutes, unlimited texts, and 250MB of data for $20 per month, although it can scale up from there.

Mint Mobile has a wonderful gimmick: It sells you three to 12 months of service on T-Mobile's network at a time, in exchange for deep discounts. It often has some amazing limited-time promotions, but even the standard rates are great. A three-month pack with unlimited talk, text, and 2GB of data runs $45, or $15 per month. The company also has 5GB and 10GB plans.

Republic Wireless is beloved for its customer service. Its best deal is probably its $20 plan, which has unlimited talk, text, and 1GB of data on the Sprint or T-Mobile networks.

Several carriers offer "custom" plans where you can fit together different amounts of talk, text, and data to taste. The best deals on those custom plans right now come from US Mobile for talkers, or Twigbyfor texters and data users. US Mobile gives you 600 minutes, 600 texts, and 300MB of data per month for $15 on T-Mobile's or Verizon's networks. Twigby gives you 300 minutes, unlimited texts, and 1GB of data for $15 on Sprint's network. Ting andTello, which have similar business plans, also have their fans, but we didn't find them to be the best service plans at this price level.

Ting does have one advantage, though: It's great for multi-line households. Unlike most of the brands in this story, you can just tack additional lines onto an existing Ting plan for $6 each.

I Want to Spend $20-$30 Per Month

A lot of the deals we saw in the mid-$20s previously got bumped up to $30 recently, so they're out of this section. Unreal Mobile has a 3GB plan with unlimited talk and text, once again on the Sprint or AT&T networks, for $20.

Tello will do unlimited talk and text with 3GB of data for $24 on the Sprint network. SpeedTalk will do you a similar deal for $26 using T-Mobile's network. US Mobile has a fascinating deal at $25: unlimited talk, text, and 5GB of data, but that data is slowed to 1Mbps.

Ultra Mobile is an alternative for international callers. Its $29 plan includes 4GB of LTE data on the T-Mobile network, 2GB of HSPA+ data, and unlimited calls to 60 different countries.

I Want to Spend $30-$40 Per Month

At the moment, the best deal on AT&T's network in this price band is from AirVoice, which has a $30, 4GB plan that may go away soon. AirVoice is a longstanding AT&T reseller, and this rate undercuts competitors like PureTalk and H2O at the moment.

Verizon charges premium rates for its network. If you're looking for moderate-to-heavy use, Walmart's Total Wireless offers the best deal. The company has a $33.20, 5GB plan that can't be beat for Verizon value.

Frequent international callers who want more data than Ultra Mobile's plan provides can step up to Lyca Mobile's $35, 6GB plan, which has similar terms to the Ultra Mobile plan above, but 6GB of 4G LTE data. (Ultra Mobile charges $39 for 5GB at this level.)

I Want Unlimited Data

If you're going to pay more than $40 per month, per line, you should be getting unlimited (or nearly unlimited) data. If you're a Comcast Cable subscriber, Xfinity Mobile gives you unlimited data for $45 per month on Verizon's network, with speeds reduced after 20GB. For non-Comcast subscribers, there's Verizon-owned Visible, which gives you unlimited data for $40, but throttles it to 5Mbps. I'm not a fan; that's slow.

Both MetroPCS (owned by T-Mobile) and Boost Mobile (owned by Sprint) currently have $50 monthly unlimited data deals. (MetroPCS will de-prioritize you, but not throttle you, after 35GB per month; Boost does it after 23GB.) That's the least you'll pay for unlimited LTE data. Both also have (somewhat) discounted family plans. AT&T's subsidiary Cricket is a little more expensive at $60 per month.

I Want to Align My Beliefs With My Mobile Plan

Do you want to put your money behind your social or political beliefs? There are wireless carriers that let you do just that. We don't consider any of these to be a good deal, though. They charge higher rates than many of the other carriers we're listing, and donate a relatively small percentage of your bill.

The People's Operator (TPO) donates 10 percent of your bill amount to charity. In general, these are relatively politically neutral charities—things like the ASPCA, the Special Olympics, and the Cure Alzheimer's Fund. Of its several plans on the Sprint network, I'd spotlight its $25 per month (with autopay), 2GB unlimited talk and text as the best deal.

Credo Mobile donates a small, but unstated percentage of your bill to left-wing causes; it may be as little as one percent. The carrier runs on Verizon's network and charges $40 for a 3GB plan, which is undercut by Total Wireless.

On the right wing of the spectrum, Patriot Mobile recently brought down its prices to competitive levels, and now it's a better deal than the pro-life Charity Mobile. It charges $40 per month for 2GB of data on Sprint's network, and $60 per month for 5GB. It donates five percent of your bill to your choice of one of 16 organizations.

That said, signing up for one of these carriers is about feeling like you belong to a community rather than actual fiscal effectiveness. If you're interested in Patriot or Credo, for instance, you could sign up for a $30, 3GB Red Pocket plan, kick a 10-spot every month to Emily's List or the Tea Party Patriots, and more money would be going to your cause.

Who Didn't Make the Cut?

These carriers aren't necessarily bad, but their plans weren't the best this time around, though that might change, since we update this story several times each year. Here's how each one compares with similar carriers.

About the Author

PCMag.com's lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan, has reviewed hundreds of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets in more than 9 years with PCMag. He's the head of our Fastest Mobile Networks project, one of the hosts of the daily PCMag Live Web show and speaks frequently in mass media on cell-phone-related issues. His commentary has appeared on ABC, the BBC, the CBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, and in newspapers from San Antonio, Texas to Edmonton, Alberta.

Segan is also a multiple award-winning travel writer, having contributed to the Frommer's series of travel guides and Web sites for more than a decade. Other than his home town of New York, his favorite ... See Full Bio